FRONTIER WITH THE HOUSE OF GOLDThe Expedition of 712
Now I want to turn to Baladhuri's account of Muhammad bin Qasim
to construct the political history that Chachnama drew upon for its
narration. The episode of the captured Muslim women is the totemic
origins narrative framing Muslim arrival in India. As already seen in
the historical record, the presence of Arabs and Muslims in India pre-
dates this particular episode, which itself predates the expedition of
Muhammad bin Qasim in 712. To write against the origins narrative,
one needs to grasp the political history of Qasim's campaign from the
earliest historical sources. In this section, I present the account of Mu-
hammad bin Qasim and the expedition of 712 provided by Baladhuri.
The commander of the 712 campaign dispatched to Sind by Hajjaj
is Muhammad bin Qasim bin Muhammad bin Hakam bin Abu 'Ukail.
Qasim was born in Ta'if, near Mecca. We do not know the year of his
birth, but Baladhuri quotes a poet who remarks that he was seventeen
when he conquered Sind, which would put his birth year around 694
CE. He belonged to the powerful and influential Thakif family and was
the nephew of Hajjaj, the most powerful man in the Umayyad empire
at that time. As such, it was at an early age-fifteen or sixteen-that
Hajjaj asked him to lead expeditions in Iran.
Baladhuri narrates that Qasim was campaigning in Iran, near
Shiraz, in 7ro when he was asked to proceed to Sind with six thousand
troops and auxiliary personnel. Another force was dispatched from
Oman to bring him supplies (including thread and needles). Hajjaj took
great care to manage the expedition. He even worried about the plight
of dysentery for the armies: he "gathered cotton and soaked it in aged
vinegar and dried it in the shade." He said, "when you reach Sind,
vinegar is very scarce. Drench this cotton in water. Boil the water and
season with it."^43
Baladhuri narrates Muhammad bin Qasim's successful capturing of
a series of forts, establishing governors there, and moving toward the
capital city of Raja Dahar:
Then Muhammad bin Qasim left Arma'il and with Juhm bin Zuhr
Ju'fi arrived at Daybul on a Friday. There he received ships with men
and weapons and supplies. After getting to Daybul, he constructed